On July 22, 2021, the Philadelphia Flyers sent defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere to the Arizona Coyotes as a cap dump to make room for some of their new offseason additions for the 2021-22 NHL season. Since he has left the Flyers, he has not only rejuvenated his NHL career, but also become one of the league’s more consistent offensive defensemen. What did the Flyers give up in the deal, and how is it working out for the parties involved?
A Short-Sighted Move
The Flyers, fancying themselves as a playoff team after a disappointing 2020-21 campaign where they finished with a 25-23-8 record, traded the $4.5 million cap hit of Gostisbehere, a 2022 second-round pick, and a 2022 seventh-round pick to the Coyotes for no return. In essence, the Flyers gave up assets to try and acquire a new-look defense that could potentially help them regain their success in the 2019-20 season, where they ended with a 41-21-7 record.
Gostisbehere was coming off two seasons with a combined 32 points in 83 games for Philadelphia, which was a bit low for the offensive defenseman’s standards. With a career-high of 65 points in 2017-18, the Flyers felt his game was not at the level they needed it to be. As a result, they shipped him off to try and retool their roster for their 2021-22 campaign.
Ultimately, the Flyers’ 2021-22 season was nothing short of a disaster. Everything fell apart, and this trade was one of the reasons why. Trading a player that they viewed as a liability would end up being the least of their issues.
In the summer of 2021, the Flyers moved a lot of parts to try and revamp their defense. They acquired defenders Ryan Ellis, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Keith Yandle in the hopes that they could make their defensive corps a strength. It had struggled in 2020-21, so that was their main worry heading into the season.
Injuries derailed their season, as Ellis, arguably the best of the three additions, only played four games that season. Once that domino fell, it was only a matter of time before the team around him started to, as well. Finishing with a 25-46-11 record on the season, it stands as the second-worst record in terms of points percentage in the team’s history.
In 2022-23, the Flyers followed up a fourth-worst record in the NHL with the seventh-worst record in the league. Things went about the same as they did the season prior and drove the team into a rebuild where they currently stand.
In the end, trading Gostisbehere was the incorrect move for the simple fact alone that the team has been worse off without him. In getting to how he performed since the trade, it becomes much more obvious as to why trading him was a short-sighted move.
Gostisbehere Since Leaving the Flyers
Since Gostisbehere has left the Flyers, he has seemingly revived his career. While he wasn’t in much danger of losing a spot in the NHL, he has recently solidified himself as a true top-four defender. In stops with the Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes, and now with the Detroit Red Wings, he seems to be fitting in nicely wherever he goes.
During his time with the Coyotes, Gostisbehere was one of the team’s better offensive contributors. He put up an impressive 51 points in 82 games, averaging a career-high in average ice time with 22:11. To date, this was the only full season he had ever played, not missing a single contest due to injury or ailments. Fairly quickly, the Flyers’ trade was seeming like the wrong one in hindsight.
In Gostisbehere’s second season with Arizona in 2022-23, there was much of the same. In 52 games with the team, he amassed 31 points on 22:30 of average ice time. With his contract set to expire in the offseason, he was dealt to the Hurricanes for a 2026 third-round draft pick. The return wasn’t significant, but the Coyotes maintaining one more of their three eligible retention spots played into that. Overall, 82 points in 134 games with Arizona is more than enough to make them happy.
Gostisbehere was relegated to a lesser role in Carolina, given their strengths on defense. His 10 points in 23 regular season games are still rather impressive, given he did so averaging just 17:00 of ice time. He scored just three points in the team’s run to the Eastern Conference Final, but his first stint of extended NHL playoff action in his career was a new experience for him.
In the offseason, Gostisbehere signed a one-year deal with the Red Wings with a cap hit of $4.125 million. Not too far off from what he was making when the Flyers traded him, but his value hadn’t really changed from where he was earlier in his career. In his first 19 games this season, the 30-year-old defender accumulated 18 points. Sitting in the top 10 for points among defensemen, he is having arguably his best season since the Flyers traded him. It looks like things will continue to go up for the former Flyer.
Other Assets in the Trade
It is still far too early to assess what the Flyers are missing out on in terms of the players drafted with the picks they gave up, but they did miss out on a few potentially solid NHL players. The Coyotes traded their 2022 seventh-round pick for one in 2021, which they selected winger Sam Lipkin with. Using their 2022 second-round pick, they chose defender Artyom Duda. In all likelihood, the Flyers do not select either of these players using their picks, as projecting careers of draftees becomes more difficult as the drafting process moves past the first round. With that being said, they are still pieces the Flyers wish they had.
One of the players that the Flyers could have had their hands on was defender Lane Hutson, who was selected by the Montreal Canadiens late in the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft. Seen as one of the best defensive prospects in hockey, the Flyers missed their chance at selecting him without their pick.
Earlier in the second round, the Flyers could have taken defenders Seamus Casey or Christian Kyrou, who both look like they could make the NHL sometime in the future. For a Flyers defense that is still trying to accumulate assets for the future, they missed out on a few players who could have changed their trajectory a bit.
Related: Projecting the Flyers’ Future Defense Corps
Moves that are made in the necessity of trying to be competitive often do not look good in hindsight. In this case, the Flyers were not only unable to compete but lost the Gostisbehere trade in multiple ways. If the Flyers could go back and undo this trade, it goes without saying that they would.